Hidden Within the Stones includes a study of love and commitment across gaps of time and age. What do the older characters offer the younger? Do the younger characters also contribute to the growth of their elders?

What motivates Ella to keep going despite the obstacles encountered? Do you see her perseverance as part of her heritage? What about her parents? Her children?

What does this story tell us about cultural impact on the evolution/stagnation/maintenance of practices and beliefs?

In the end, Ella rejects Andy. Why has she shied away from building a relationship with him?

This novel is populated by a wide array of female “roles”. Yet it takes place within two traditionally male dominated spheres: The “Brotherhood” and conflicts over the ownership of land. Are the female characters supporting actors? Or, do their stories change the landscape of the novel as well?

How do you think Ella will live when she returns to California? What about Shannon?

Hidden Within the Stones is the story of relationships, across time and in the present. Are any of these relationships familiar to you? What resources to you have in your life when confronted with changes?

Would you have lived as a converso in Spain but still kept true to your own religion? What motivates people to keep strong in the face on conflict?

What would make you change your set of beliefs (about anything, not just religion) for another? Do you see this as collapse or growth?

The novel Imperfecta takes place in both New Mexico and California. What moral and emotional questions are raised when Perfecta and Isaac move to California?

Perfecta has relationships with many other women throughout the story – Isabelle, Avelina, Rose, Mary and even Karleen and Geri. How do these relationships impact Perfie? Is she thwarted in her ability to take advantages of the resources around her?

One relationship which lasts, in spite of hardships, is that of Perfecta and Isaac. Why is this?

Who or what actually influences Perfecta in a positive way? What does it take for her to grow?

What kind of parent has Perfecta become? Why is it so hard for her to relate to her children?

Historically, women have lived through many hard times. The dust bowl, the stock market crash, the Great Depression, and wars. What do women do to survive these crisis? What becomes important when people don’t have much or are in danger of losing what little they have? How are women dealing with their fears in current times?

Prejudice and poverty have always existed. What impacted Perfecta to make her have a closed mind? What similarities exist in current times that show us hidden prejudice?

1. This book of short stories falls together to become a novel. Were there particular stories or characters which caught your attention? What was it about those stories that stood out? Did you have any trouble reading a series of short stories rather than a continuous novel?

2. A few of the stories are written in a non-traditional manner – Johnny Heartburn, Archives, Signs, Sleep Tight George Orwell. How do you feel about this method of storytelling?

3. The three sisters, Miriam, Callie and Phoebe, have a difficult relationship. What sustains the gap? Should families stick together, no matter what?

4. The characters in the book have communication problems. Do you know someone with similar patterns of dysfunctional communication? How does this way of interacting impact not only the speaker but the listener?

5. Consider the book’s title. How does one become “whole” after being split in to pieces?

6. In the story Assassin, Phoebe kills a man. Is she really a hero or does the whole idea of taking someone’s life trump the value of what she does?

7. In the story toomanydates.com, Miriam finds out some things about herself. Are people really that influenced by labels given to them by others? Have you ever had a label you have to live up to, in a negative or positive way?

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